Privacy assembly for image capture device

ABSTRACT

Techniques and apparatus for preventing unauthorized use of an image capture device are described. In one embodiment, for example, an apparatus may include an image capture unit operative to capture images from incident light incident on at least a portion of the image capture unit, a privacy assembly operative to prevent the image capture unit from generating a clear image responsive to a privacy active signal, and logic coupled to the privacy assembly, the logic to generate the privacy active signal responsive to the image capture unit being inactive. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments herein generally relate to image capturing devices, and moreparticularly, to providing a privacy assembly to prevent unintentionalor unauthorized image capture by an image capturing device.

BACKGROUND

Software-controlled cameras have become a ubiquitous part of the publicspace (for example, surveillance cameras) as well as consumer's privatelives (for example, device-integrated cameras). However, they are alsovulnerable to malicious software designed to take unauthorized controlto obtain data or images. In addition, the camera owner is typicallyinitially unaware that their device has been compromised. Conventionaltechniques to thwart unauthorized control of cameras have beenineffective for multiple reasons, including users intentionally orinadvertently disengaging protection mechanisms (for instance, latchesor covers) and malware detection software being out of date orcircumvented by hackers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a first operating environment.

FIGS. 2A-C illustrate an embodiment of a second operating environment.

FIG. 3A-C illustrate an embodiment of a third operating environment.

FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment of a fourth operating environment.

FIG. 5A-C illustrates an embodiment of a fifth operating environment.

FIG. 6 illustrates an embodiment of a first logic flow.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a storage medium.

FIG. 8 illustrates an embodiment of a computing architecture.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various embodiments may be generally directed to image capture devicesthat include a privacy layer operative to prevent unauthorized imagesfrom being captured by an image capture device. Non-limiting examples ofimage capture devices may include still-image cameras, video cameras, orcombinations thereof. An image capture device may be an integratedcamera (for instance, embedded in a smartphone, laptop, or othercomputing device) or a standalone camera (for instance, asoftware-controlled camera, a “web cam,” a “nanny cam,” a baby monitorcamera, a surveillance camera, and/or the like). In some embodiments,the privacy layer may be activated to screen, blur, distort, orotherwise block the lens of an image capture device. In variousembodiments, the privacy layer may be activated responsive to the imagecapture device being deactivated by a user, for example, via softwarecontrolling the image capture device. In some embodiments, the privacylayer may be activated/deactivated by an operating system (OS) of acomputing device. In other embodiments, the privacy layer may beactivated/deactivated by software operating on a computing devicethrough an authorized channel, such as a user selection via an imagecapture device user interface. The privacy layer may be deactivated toallow the lens of an image capture device to capture images. Inexemplary embodiments, the privacy layer may be deactivated responsiveto the image capture device being activated through an authorizedprocess, such as activating the image capture device via softwarecontrolling the image capture device. Accordingly, if an image capturedevice is activated via an unauthorized process, such as malware, theprivacy layer will remain active and the lens will be blocked,preventing the capture of images by the image capture device.

Advances in technology have allowed for cameras to be integrated into awide range of devices, including phones, computing devices, automobiles,and/or the like. Moreover, stand-alone cameras are being used in morepublic and private spaces for surveillance and other monitoringpurposes. While the ease of use and proliferation of cameras has allowedusers to capture more images, their ubiquity also makes users vulnerableto misuse of their computing devices via the integrated cameras. Certainconventional cameras have an indicate which indicates camera activity,such as a red-light indicator when capturing video, to visualize on/offstate (for instance, a camcorder or digital single-lens reflective(DSLR) camera). However, many cameras, particularly those integratedinto computing devices, do not have a dedicated hardware on/offindicator (relying instead on a graphical user interface (GUI) indicatoron a software interface). In addition, malicious software is capable ofoperating a camera while disabling any on/off indicators. Accordingly,malicious software is capable of capturing images without being detectedby a user.

Conventional techniques to prevent unauthorized or unintended use of animage capture device have typically included mechanical covering means,anti-malware software, or physical on/off switches (as opposed tosoftware-based activation). However, such conventional approaches havefailed for various reasons. For example, mechanical covering means mayinclude physical latches that cover the camera lens. Some users havealso used objects, such as tape or paper, to cover camera lenses that donot have a physical mechanism. However, such solutions are notaesthetically appealing and are often not practical for certain formfactors (for instance, smartphones and tablet computing devices). Inaddition, they are generally not sufficiently effective as userstypically intentionally or inadvertently omit using them to cover thecamera lens. Anti-malware software has proven to be an unreliablesolution as it is typically not up to date on most computing devices,and its effective use depends on user sophistication, versioncapabilities, and many other factors that lead to gaps in identificationand intervention. In another example, certain manufacturers haveincluded a control that requires a user to perform a specificactivation/deactivation step to physically enable/disable a cameradevice. However, similar to the mechanical covering means, users oftenintentionally or inadvertently leave the camera enabled, leaving thecamera vulnerable to exploitation by malicious software.

Accordingly, some embodiments provide a privacy layer for image capturedevices that does not rely on direct user intervention and that willprevent an image capturing device from capturing visible images even ifthe image capturing device is under control of malicious software. Inaddition, a privacy layer according to some embodiments may provide aprivacy indicator operative to indicate to a user that the privacy layeris active and the image capture device is blocked from capturing images.

In this description, numerous specific details, such as component andsystem configurations, may be set forth in order to provide a morethorough understanding of the present invention. It will be appreciated,however, by one skilled in the art, that the invention may be practicedwithout such specific details. Additionally, some well-known structures,circuits, and other features have not been shown in detail, to avoidunnecessarily obscuring the present invention.

In the following description, references to “one embodiment,” “anembodiment,” “example embodiment,” “various embodiments,” etc., indicatethat the embodiment(s) of the invention so described may includeparticular features, structures, or characteristics, but more than oneembodiment may and not every embodiment necessarily does include theparticular features, structures, or characteristics. Further, someembodiments may have some, all, or none of the features described forother embodiments.

As used in this description and the claims and unless otherwisespecified, the use of the ordinal adjectives “first,” “second,” “third,”etc. to describe an element merely indicate that a particular instanceof an element or different instances of like elements are being referredto, and is not intended to imply that the elements so described must bein a particular sequence, either temporally, spatially, in ranking, orin any other manner

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of an operating environment 100 that maybe representative of various embodiments. The operating environment 100depicted in FIG. 1 may include an apparatus 105 having a processingcircuitry 110, an image capture logic 120, a memory unit 130, an imagecapture unit 140, a display device 160, and a transceiver 170. Apparatus105 may be or may include a computing device, such as a laptop computer,a personal computer (PC), a workstation computer, a tablet, a personaldigital assistant (PDA), a smartphone, a phablet, an image capturedevice, a server, a networking device, and/or the like.

Processing circuitry 110 may be communicatively coupled to image capturelogic 120, memory unit 130, image capture unit 140, display device 160,and transceiver 170. In various embodiments, processing circuitry 110may include a central processing unit (CPU) and/or may be implemented onor as a system-on-a-chip (SoC). Processing circuitry 110 may includeand/or may access various logic for performing processes according tosome embodiments. For instance, processing circuitry 110 may includeand/or may access image capture logic 120, privacy layer logic 122,and/or image sensor logic 142. Although FIG. 1 depicts image capturelogic 120 and/or image sensor logic 142, and/or logic or controllersthereof (for instance, privacy layer logic 122) as separate logicstructures, embodiments are not so limited, as image capture logic 120and/or image sensor logic 142, and/or logic or controllers thereof maybe configured as one or a plurality of logic structures.

In addition, image capture logic 120 and/or image sensor logic 142,and/or logic or controllers thereof may be implemented in hardware,software, or a combination thereof. As used in this application, theterms “logic, “component,” “layer,” “system,” “circuitry,” “decoder,”“encoder,” and/or “module” are intended to refer to a computer-relatedentity, either hardware, a combination of hardware and software,software, or software in execution, examples of which are provided bythe exemplary computing architecture 800. For example, a logic,circuitry, or a layer may be and/or may include, but are not limited to,a process running on a processor, a processor, a hard disk drive,multiple storage drives (of optical and/or magnetic storage medium), anobject, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, a computer,hardware circuitry, integrated circuits, a controller, applicationspecific integrated circuits (ASIC), programmable logic devices (PLD),digital signal processors (DSP), field programmable gate array (FPGA), asystem-on-a-chip (SoC), memory units, logic gates, registers,semiconductor device, chips, microchips, chip sets, software components,programs, applications, firmware, software modules, computer code,combinations of any of the foregoing, and/or the like.

In some embodiments, image capture logic 120 and/or image sensor logic142, and/or logic or controllers thereof may be arranged withinprocessing circuitry 110; however, embodiments are not so limited. Forexample, image capture logic 120 and/or image sensor logic 142, and/orlogic or controllers thereof may be located within an accelerator, aprocessor core, an interface, an individual processor die, a logiccircuit, and/or the like and may include other components, such assoftware, firmware, circuitry and/or the like.

Memory unit 130 may include various types of computer-readable storagemedia and/or systems in the form of one or more higher speed memoryunits, such as read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM),dynamic RAM (DRAM), Double-Data-Rate DRAM (DDRAM), synchronous DRAM(SDRAM), static RAM (SRAM), programmable ROM (PROM), erasableprogrammable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM(EEPROM), flash memory, polymer memory such as ferroelectric polymermemory, ovonic memory, phase change or ferroelectric memory,silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-silicon (SONOS) memory, magnetic or opticalcards, an array of devices such as Redundant Array of Independent Disks(RAID) drives, solid state memory devices (e.g., USB memory, solid statedrives (SSD) and any other type of storage media suitable for storinginformation. In addition, Memory unit 130 may include various types ofcomputer-readable storage media in the form of one or more lower speedmemory units, including an internal (or external) hard disk drive (HDD),a magnetic floppy disk drive (FDD), and an optical disk drive to readfrom or write to a removable optical disk (e.g., a CD-ROM or DVD), asolid state drive (SSD), and/or the like.

In some embodiments, image capture logic 120 may control the operationalfunctions of image capture unit 140, including the capturing of images.Image capture unit 140 may include various types of image captureelements operative to capture images, such as a still-image camera, avideo camera, and/or the like. For example, apparatus 105 may include asmartphone and image capture unit 140 may include a camera capable ofcapturing digital still-images and/or digital video. Embodiments are notlimited in this regard. In various embodiments, image capture logic 120may implement or interact with an image capture application (forexample, a software application, a mobile application (or “app”), and/orthe like) having a user interface displayed via display device 160. Theimage capture application may be operative to provide access to variousaspects of the image capture unit 140, such as settings, preferences,files (for instance, digital images and/or digital videos), and/or thelike.

In exemplary embodiments, processing circuitry 110 may execute anoperating system (OS) 150 configured to manage the hardware and softwareof apparatus 105. OS 150 may control various aspects of image captureunit 140, such as whether image capture unit 140 is activated. OS 150may control image capture unit 140 in conjunction with image capturelogic 120. For example, OS 150 may receive input to activate imagecapture unit 140 via an input device of apparatus 105 (for instance,touchscreen, mouse input, keyboard input, voice input, button input,and/or the like). OS 150 may activate (and/or power-on if not alreadypowered) image capture unit 140 and/or provide an activation signal toimage capture logic 120 to activate image capture unit 140. OS 150 maythen pass off control of image capture unit 140 to image capture logic120. In general, activation of image capture unit 140 may includeputting image capture unit 140 into an active state where image captureunit 140 is ready and able to capture images responsive to a captureimage or record instruction. For example, an activated image captureunit 140 may be powered on and able to present images in its field ofview to a user, for instance, via a user interface of image captureapplication. Image capture unit 140 may also enter an image captureactive state in which image capture unit 140 is actively capturing stillimages and/or video. Image capture logic 120 and/or OS 150 may track thevarious states of image capture unit, such as the active state, theimage capture active state, and/or the like.

In some embodiments, image capture logic 120 may control operation ofimage capture unit 140 via physical buttons located on the apparatus 105and/or through virtual software-implemented buttons presented throughthe image capture application. In various embodiments, image capturelogic 120 may control activation of image capture unit 140. For example,apparatus 105 may be a smartphone having multiple image capture units140 in the form of front and back digital cameras. A user may activateone of the digital cameras by launching the image capture application.In the active state, the image capture application may present the fieldof view of the digital camera via display device 160. In anotherexample, apparatus 105 may be a stand-alone surveillance device havingan image capture unit 140 in the form of a digital camera, such as theNest® Cam Indoor produced by Nest® of Palo Alto, Calif. The stand-alonesurveillance device may include a physical button to activate imagecapture unit. In addition, apparatus 105 may be operably coupled to acomputing device executing the image capture application that provides aGUI object for remotely activating the image capture unit.

In some embodiments, image capture logic 120 and/or OS 150 may set animage capture unit active value or signal responsive to image captureunit 140 being activated via image capture logic 120. For example, imagecapture value may be set to true, 1, or any other value indicating thatimage capture unit 140 has been properly activated via an authorizedchannel, such as selecting a physical button and/or input via the imagecapture application through apparatus 105. In various embodiments, imagecapture logic 120 and/or OS 150 may reset the image capture unit activevalue responsive to image capture unit 140 being deactivated via imagecapture logic. For example, image capture unit active value may be setto false, 0, or any other value indicating that image capture unit 140has been deactivated. In some embodiments, the image capture unit activevalue may be used only to indicate that image capture unit 140 ispowered on and active. In other embodiments, the image capture unitactive value may indicate that image capture unit 140 is capturingimages. In various embodiments, a separate image capturing value orsignal may be used to indicate that image capture unit 140 is capturingimages.

In various embodiments, image capture unit 140 may be activatedimproperly (for instance, via malware). For example, image capture unit140 is powered on and active to capture images, but was not activatedvia a proper channel (for instance, the image capture unit active valueis false). Accordingly, in exemplary embodiments, image capture logic120 may set an unauthorized active value or signal (for instance, totrue, 1, and/or the like) responsive to determining that image captureunit 140 has been activated improperly. In some embodiments, privacyassembly 146 may be left active, as it is may be deactivated when imagecapture unit 140 is activated via an authorized channel. In variousembodiments, activation of image capture unit 140 via an authorizedchannel may be implemented, for example, in hardware, such thatactivation of image capture unit 140 is mutually exclusive to activationof privacy assembly 146. For example, either image capture unit 140 isactive and privacy assembly 146 is inactive, or vice versa.

Image capture unit 140 may include various components to facilitatecapturing images (for instance, still images or video). In variousembodiments, image capture unit 140 may include a lens assembly 144operative to receive light external to apparatus 105. Lens assembly 144may include an optical lens or lens assembly operative to format lightincident on lens assembly 144 and to provide the formatted light toimage sensor logic 142. Image sensor logic 142 may include various typesof digital image sensors, including, without limitation, a chargecoupled device (CCD) image sensor, a complementarymetal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor, and/or the like. Imagesensor logic 142 processes the light provided by lens assembly 144 togenerate an image, for example, in the form of a digital image or videofile.

Privacy assembly 146 may be operative to prevent image capture unit 140from capturing images. In particular, privacy assembly 146 may beoperative to prevent unauthorized images from being captured by imagecapture unit 140. In various embodiments, privacy assembly 146 mayoperate to prevent all or some incident light external to apparatus 105from reaching lens assembly 144. In some embodiments, privacy assembly146 may operate to generate light (for instance, “blinding light”) thatis incident on lens assembly 144 and, ultimately, is received by imagesensor logic 142. The blinding light may operate to prevent imagecapture device 140 from taking clear images, for example, by causing anyimage produced by image sensor logic 142 to be obscured or otherwiseindecipherable (for instance, oversaturated or “washed out” with light).In various embodiments, privacy assembly 146 may be arranged betweenlens assembly 144 and light incident on lens assembly 144.

In various embodiments, privacy assembly 146 may include variouscomponents to block lens assembly 144 from capturing clear images and/orto present information to a user (see, for example, FIG. 4). In someembodiments, privacy assembly 146 may include a blinding layer (orlighting layer, blocking layer, backlit layer, or the like) configuredto generate light that may be incident on lens assembly 144. Forexample, the blinding layer may include a material or device configuredto emit light in response to a stimulus, such as a signal, a current, avoltage, and/or the like. In various embodiments, the stimulus mayinclude lack of a signal, current, voltage, and/or the like. Inexemplary embodiments, the blinding layer may include one or more layersof light emitting diodes (LEDs) and/or liquid crystals formed, forinstance, as a liquid crystal display (LCD), a polymer-dispersed LCD(PDLC), and/or the like.

In some embodiments, privacy assembly 146 may include a transparencylayer. The transparency layer may operate as an optical barrier and/or alight dimmer. In exemplary embodiments, the transparency layer mayinclude a variable-transmissivity material configured to modify theability of light to be transmitted through the transparency layer (i.e.,transmissivity). The variable-transmissivity material may modify thetransmissivity of the transparency layer responsive to an application ofa stimulus, such as a signal, a current, a voltage, and/or the like. Invarious embodiments, the stimulus may include lack of a signal, current,voltage, and/or the like.

Privacy assembly 146 may include an information layer according to someembodiments. The information layer may operate to facilitate the displayof privacy information relating to the privacy layer assembly, such as aterm (for instance, “privacy,” “privacy system activated,” a logo, asymbol, a color, and/or the like). In some embodiments, the privacyinformation may include privacy active information operative to signalto a user that privacy assembly 146 is actively blocking image capturedevice 140 from capturing clear images. In various embodiments, theprivacy information may include unauthorized activity informationoperative to indicate potential unauthorized activity associated withimage capture device 140 (for instance, indicating that image capturedevice 140 is active and privacy assembly 146 is active).

In exemplary embodiments, privacy assembly 146 and components thereofmay be transparent responsive to image capture device 140 being properlyoperated by a user of apparatus 105. Accordingly, privacy assembly 146does not interfere with regular, authorized camera use. Privacy assembly146 may operate as a filter by filtering and/or blocking light enteringimage capture device that is or would be incident on lens assembly 144.

FIG. 2A, FIG. 2B, and FIG. 2C illustrate an example of an operatingenvironment 200 that may be representative of various embodiments. Theoperating environment 200 depicted in FIG. 2A includes an apparatus 205having image capture logic 220 and image capture unit 240. Lens assembly244 and privacy assembly 246 may be arranged within image capture unit240.

In FIG. 2A, image capture unit 240 is off or otherwise inactive (forinstance, a user of apparatus 205 is not engaged in capturing imagesusing image capture unit 240). Accordingly, an image capture unit activesignal 250 is low, 0, false, off, or otherwise in a state indicatingthat image capture unit 240 is inactive. A privacy active signal 252 hasbeen set to high, 1, true, on, or otherwise in a state indicating thatprivacy assembly 246 is active responsive to, for example, image captureunit 240 being inactive. In the configuration depicted in FIG. 2A,privacy assembly 246 may operate to blinding and/or blocking lensassembly 244, for example, by emitting light incident on lens assemblyand/or preventing incident light from outside of apparatus 205 fromreaching lens assembly. In some embodiments, an active privacy assembly146 may be operative to display an image or otherwise indicate withlight emitted by a backlit layer (see, for example, FIG. 4 and FIGS.5A-C) that it is active, and thus camera cannot capture clear,meaningful images.

In some embodiments, the form of privacy active signal 252 may bedetermined based on the materials used in privacy assembly 246. Forexample, a transparency layer may be transparent responsive toapplication of a voltage and non-transparent when no voltage is beingapplied. In this example, a high privacy active signal 252 may be theabsence of an applied voltage (or other signal), and a low privacyactive signal 252 may be the presence of an applied voltage (or othersignal). In some embodiments, image capture unit active signal 250 (forinstance, a voltage) may be the same or on the same line or signal pathas privacy active signal 252, such that application of a voltage tooperate image capture device 240 may also cause privacy layer assemblyto be transparent and/or to stop emitting light. Embodiments are notlimited in this regard.

Referring to FIG. 2B, image capture unit active signal 250 is high,indicating that image capture device 240 has been activated properly bya user of apparatus 205. In response, privacy active signal 252 may beset to low to deactivate privacy assembly 246. In the configurationdepicted in FIG. 2B, privacy assembly 246 may be transparent and/or notemitting light to allow light external from apparatus 205 to be incidenton lens assembly 244 and/or to not otherwise interfere with lightexternal from apparatus 205 incident on lens assembly. Accordingly,image capture unit 240 may capture clear images. In some embodiments,lens assembly 244 may be active (for instance, when focus distance orother characteristics may be adjusted) or passive (for instance, with afixed focus or other fixed characteristics). In various embodiments, animage may be captured by an image sensor (not shown), which is part oflens assembly 244, but controlled by image capture unit logic 220.

In FIG. 2C, an unauthorized entity 280 has accessed apparatus 205 viaconnection 254. For example, unauthorized entity 280 may be a computingdevice, software, and/or the like. Unauthorized entity 280 may bemalicious software installed on apparatus 205 that has taken control ofand activated image capture unit 240 without authorization. Accordingly,image capture unit active signal 250 may be set to high, activatingimage capture unit 240. However, an unauthorized active signal may behigh indicating unauthorized operation of image capture unit 240. Forexample, the unauthorized active signal may be set to high responsive toan OS of apparatus 205 and/or image capture logic 220 determining thatimage capture unit 240 was not activated by a user through properchannels (for instance, using an input device via a software interfacefor image capture unit 240). As shown in FIG. 2C, privacy active signal252 is also high, such that privacy assembly 246 may prevent imagecapture unit 240 from capturing clear images. In exemplary embodiments,if an attacker attempts to use an authorized channel to disable privacyassembly 246, this will result in the condition depicted in FIG. 2A anda privacy indicator (see, for example, FIGS. 5A-5C) will not bedisplayed to the user, thus revealing active image capture unit 240operation.

FIG. 3A, FIG. 3B, and FIG. 3C illustrate an example of an operatingenvironment 300 that may be representative of various embodiments. Theoperating environment 300 depicted in FIG. 3A may include in imagecapture unit 340 having a lens assembly 344 and in image sensor 342. Aprivacy assembly 346 may be arranged between lens assembly 344 andincident light 360. A privacy active signal 352 may be low such thatprivacy assembly 346 is inactive and, therefore transparent ortransmissive. Accordingly, incident light 360 may be incident on lensassembly 344 for processing and providing to image sensor 342 togenerate a clear image.

Referring to FIG. 3B, privacy active signal 352 may be high such thatprivacy assembly 346 is active to prevent image capture unit fromcapturing clear images. In some embodiments, privacy layer assembly maybe non-transmissive such that some, all, or substantially all incidentlight 360 is blocked from being incident on lens assembly 344.Accordingly, if image capture unit 340 were active, image capture unit340 would not be able to generate clear images as incident light 360 isblocked from being incident on lens assembly 344 and, ultimately, imagesensor 342 cannot receive light information sufficient to generate aclear image.

In FIG. 3C, privacy active signal 352 may be high such that privacyassembly 346 is active to prevent image capture unit from capturingclear images. In the configuration depicted in FIG. 3C, privacy assembly346 includes a light emitting component operative to emit light (see,for example, FIG. 4) 362 a, 362 b (for example, “blinding light” or“blocking light”). Blinding light 362 a may be incident on lens assembly344, causing lens assembly 344 to include blinding light information 362c to image sensor 342. Accordingly, image sensor 342 will attempt togenerate an image based on blinding light information 362 c (plus any ofincident light 360 that is incident on lens assembly). Any imagesgenerated by image sensor 342 while privacy assembly 346 is active willnot be clear, as the blinding light information 362 will interfere withany natural incident light 360. For example, Images generated by imagesensor 342 while privacy assembly 346 is active will be oversaturatedwith light, washed out, and/or the like. Accordingly, objects in suchimages will not be visible or clearly visible.

As shown in FIG. 3C, certain of blinding light 362 c may be projectedfrom privacy assembly 346 in a direction away from the apparatus 305 (inan opposite direction of lens assembly 344) toward a user of apparatus306. Blinding light 362 c may be used as light-based privacy indicator,for example, providing an indication that privacy assembly 346 is active(see, for example, FIGS. 4 and 5).

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of an operating environment 400 that maybe representative of various embodiments. The operating environment 400depicted in FIG. 4 may include an apparatus 405 having an image captureunit 440 arranged therein. Image capture unit 440 may include a lensassembly 444 and a privacy assembly 446. As shown in FIG. 4, privacyassembly 446 may be arranged between lens assembly 444 and incidentlight 460 external to apparatus 405.

Privacy assembly 446 may include a plurality of layers, such as ablinding layer 474, a transparency layer 472, and/or an informationlayer 474. In some embodiments, blinding layer 474, transparency layer472, and/or information layer 474 may be separate layers. In variousembodiments, one or more of blinding layer 474, a transparency layer472, and/or an information layer 474 may be combined into a singlelayer.

In exemplary embodiments, blinding layer 470 may emit blinding orblocking light. For example, blinding layer 470 may include a layer,film, or other structure that includes liquid crystals, LEDs, organicLEDs (OLEDs), and/or the like. The blinding light may be of varioustypes of light in the visible spectrum and/or other spectrums. Blindinglight may be used to blind other aspects of image capture unit, such asdepth finding technology (for instance, Intel® RealSense™), night visiontechnology, object recognition technology, and/or the like. In someembodiments, blinding layer 470 may be formed of a plurality of layers,for instance, emitting light in different spectrums, wavelengths (orcolors), intensities, and/or the like. In various embodiments, blindinglayer 470 may operate to directly emit light from a surface (forinstance, such as with an OLED), an electroluminescent Quantum-Dots, anarray of LEDs, or be edge-lit/back-lit in a manner similar to an LEDmonitor with LED backlighting. Light emitted by blinding layer 470 maybe incident on lens assembly 444 to interfere with lens assembly 444providing clear light input to an image sensor (not shown) of imagecapture unit 440.

Transparency layer 472 may include a material operative to changetransmissivity or transparency and/or incident light wavelengths passingthrough transparency layer responsive to a stimulus. In this manner, theintensity of blinding light generated by blinding layer 470 that isdirected externally from apparatus 405 (for example, from blinding layer470 toward a user of apparatus 405) may be reduced. For example,blinding layer 470 may generate a blinding light that has a greaterintensity than desired by a user. However, such an intensity of theblinding light may be preferred to sufficiently blind lens assembly 444.Accordingly, the intensity of blinding light directed toward lensassembly 444 is not reduced, while the intensity of blinding lightexiting apparatus may be reduced or completely eliminated bytransparency layer 472.

In some embodiments, transparency layer 472 may include a liquid crystalor “smart glass” material operative to change characteristics inresponse to a stimulus, such as a voltage, light (for example, fromblinding layer 470), and/or the like. Characteristics may includetransmissivity, reflected wavelength (or color), and/or the like. Forexample, the blinding light emitted from blinding layer 470 may have afirst intensity and/or first wavelength (or color) in a direction thatis incident on lens assembly 444. The blinding light may pass throughtransparency layer 472 on a path from blinding layer 470 and out ofapparatus 405, which may have a second intensity (for instance, lowerintensity compared with the first intensity) and/or second wavelengthcaused by transparency layer 472.

Information layer 474 may be operative to provide a privacy indicatorfor notification to a user that privacy assembly 446 is active (see, forexample, FIG. 5). Information layer 474 may be formed from variousmaterials, such as liquid crystal, LEDs, thin-film-transistors (TFTs),in-plane switching (IPS), and/or the like. For example, a symbol 462 maybe imprinted on information layer 474, which may be visible whenbacklight via light emitted from blinding layer 470. Accordingly, insome embodiments, light emitted by blinding layer 470 may blind imagecapture unit 440 and backlight symbol 462 of notification layer 474. Insome embodiments, transparency layer 472 may operate as an opticalbarrier or filter for blinding light exiting apparatus 405.

FIG. 5A, FIG. 5B, and FIG. 5C illustrates an example of an operatingenvironment 400 that may be representative of various embodiments. Theoperating environment 500 depicted in FIG. 5 may include an apparatus505 having a camera area 570 (for instance, an area of a computingdevice providing an interface for a camera lens to allow a camera tocapture images). A privacy assembly 546 may be arranged over a lens (notshown) operative to receive incident light to facilitate generating animage. In the configuration depicted in FIG. 5A, privacy assembly 546 isinactive and, therefore, invisible or substantially invisible to a userof apparatus 505.

Referring to FIG. 5B, privacy assembly 546 is active. If privacyassembly 546 is active, a user may see a privacy indicator in the formof light 582 being emitted by privacy layer assembly. For example, thecamera lens area 5809 of apparatus may appear to emit a certain colorlight (for instance, blue, yellow, red, white, and/or the like)indicating that privacy assembly 546 is active. In FIG. 5C, privacyassembly 546 is active and projecting a privacy indicator in the form ofa symbol or text formed from blinding light 362 c, such as the term“privacy” or a logo. Embodiments are not limited in this context.

FIG. 6 illustrates an embodiment of a logic flow 600. Logic flow 600 maybe representative of some or all of the operations executed by one ormore embodiments described herein, such as apparatus 105, 205, 305, 405,and/or 505. In some embodiments, logic flow 600 may be representative ofsome or all of the operations of a performance analysis process.

At block 602, a device may be powered on. For example, apparatus 105 inthe form of a smart phone may be powered on by a user. At block 604,logic flow may activate a privacy layer. For example, privacy layer 146may be activated by image capture logic 120. Logic flow 600 at block 606may determine authorized image capture unit activation. For example,image capture logic 120 may determine whether image capture unit 104 hasbeen activated by an authorized user, such as via a camera interfaceapplication or a physical button of apparatus 105. If authorized imagecapture unit activation has been detected, logic flow 600 may determinewhether an image has been captured by an image capture device at block608. If an image has been captured, logic flow 600 may deactivateprivacy layer at block 610. For example, image capture logic 220 mayreset a privacy active signal 252. Alternatively, if authorized imagecapture unit activation has not been detected and/or an image has beencaptured, logic flow 600 may activate privacy layer at block 604.Accordingly, in some embodiments, decision making regardingactivation/deactivation of a privacy layer may involve at least twosignals, “start of authorized image capture” (for instance, block 606)and “end of authorized image capture” (for instance, block 608). If a“start of authorized image capture” signal is received, for example, bylogic flow 600 or image capture logic 120, the privacy layer may bedeactivated. If an “end of authorized image capture” signal is received,the privacy layer may be activated.

In some embodiments, logic flow 600 may determine unauthorized imagecapture unit activation at block 612. For example, image capture logic120 may determine that image capture unit 140 was activated byunauthorized means, indicating, for example, malware activation. Iflogic flow 600 determines unauthorized image capture unit activation,logic flow 600 may generate an alert at block 614 (for example,presenting an alert window or banner on a display device) and activateprivacy layer at 604.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a storage medium 700. Storage medium700 may comprise an article of manufacture. In some examples, storagemedium 700 may include any non-transitory computer readable medium ormachine readable medium, such as an optical, magnetic or semiconductorstorage. Storage medium 700 may store various types of computerexecutable instructions, such as instructions to implement logic flow600. Examples of a computer readable or machine readable storage mediummay include any tangible media capable of storing electronic data,including volatile memory or non-volatile memory, removable ornon-removable memory, erasable or non-erasable memory, writeable orre-writeable memory, and so forth. Examples of computer executableinstructions may include any suitable type of code, such as source code,compiled code, interpreted code, executable code, static code, dynamiccode, object-oriented code, visual code, and the like. The examples arenot limited in this context.

FIG. 8 illustrates an embodiment of an exemplary computing architecture800 suitable for implementing various embodiments as previouslydescribed. In various embodiments, the computing architecture 800 maycomprise or be implemented as part of an electronic device. In someembodiments, the computing architecture 800 may be representative, forexample, of apparatus 105, 205, 305, 405, and/or 505. The embodimentsare not limited in this context.

As used in this application, the terms “system” and “component” and“module” are intended to refer to a computer-related entity, eitherhardware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or softwarein execution, examples of which are provided by the exemplary computingarchitecture 800. For example, a component can be, but is not limited tobeing, a process running on a processor, a processor, a hard disk drive,multiple storage drives (of optical and/or magnetic storage medium), anobject, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, and/or acomputer. By way of illustration, both an application running on aserver and the server can be a component. One or more components canreside within a process and/or thread of execution, and a component canbe localized on one computer and/or distributed between two or morecomputers. Further, components may be communicatively coupled to eachother by various types of communications media to coordinate operations.The coordination may involve the uni-directional or bi-directionalexchange of information. For instance, the components may communicateinformation in the form of signals communicated over the communicationsmedia. The information can be implemented as signals allocated tovarious signal lines. In such allocations, each message is a signal.Further embodiments, however, may alternatively employ data messages.Such data messages may be sent across various connections. Exemplaryconnections include parallel interfaces, serial interfaces, and businterfaces.

The computing architecture 800 includes various common computingelements, such as one or more processors, multi-core processors,co-processors, memory units, chipsets, controllers, peripherals,interfaces, oscillators, timing devices, video cards, audio cards,multimedia input/output (I/O) components, power supplies, and so forth.The embodiments, however, are not limited to implementation by thecomputing architecture 800.

As shown in FIG. 8, the computing architecture 800 comprises aprocessing unit 804, a system memory 806 and a system bus 808. Theprocessing unit 804 can be any of various commercially availableprocessors, including without limitation an AMD® Athlon®, Duron® andOpteron® processors; ARM® application, embedded and secure processors;IBM® and Motorola® DragonBall® and PowerPC® processors; IBM and Sony®Cell processors; Intel® Celeron®, Core (2) Duo®, Itanium®, Pentium®,Xeon®, and XScale® processors; and similar processors. Dualmicroprocessors, multi-core processors, and other multi-processorarchitectures may also be employed as the processing unit 804.

The system bus 808 provides an interface for system componentsincluding, but not limited to, the system memory 806 to the processingunit 804. The system bus 808 can be any of several types of busstructure that may further interconnect to a memory bus (with or withouta memory controller), a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of avariety of commercially available bus architectures. Interface adaptersmay connect to the system bus 808 via a slot architecture. Example slotarchitectures may include without limitation Accelerated Graphics Port(AGP), Card Bus, (Extended) Industry Standard Architecture ((E)ISA),Micro Channel Architecture (MCA), NuBus, Peripheral ComponentInterconnect (Extended) (PCI(X)), PCI Express, Personal Computer MemoryCard International Association (PCMCIA), and the like.

The system memory 806 may include various types of computer-readablestorage media in the form of one or more higher speed memory units, suchas read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), dynamic RAM(DRAM), Double-Data-Rate DRAM (DDRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), staticRAM (SRAM), programmable ROM (PROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM),electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), flash memory, polymermemory such as ferroelectric polymer memory, ovonic memory, phase changeor ferroelectric memory, silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-silicon (SONOS)memory, magnetic or optical cards, an array of devices such as RedundantArray of Independent Disks (RAID) drives, solid state memory devices(e.g., USB memory, solid state drives (SSD) and any other type ofstorage media suitable for storing information. In the illustratedembodiment shown in FIG. 8, the system memory 806 can includenon-volatile memory 810 and/or volatile memory 812. A basic input/outputsystem (BIOS) can be stored in the non-volatile memory 810.

The computer 802 may include various types of computer-readable storagemedia in the form of one or more lower speed memory units, including aninternal (or external) hard disk drive (HDD) 814, a magnetic floppy diskdrive (FDD) 816 to read from or write to a removable magnetic disk 818,and an optical disk drive 820 to read from or write to a removableoptical disk 822 (e.g., a CD-ROM or DVD). The HDD 814, FDD 816 andoptical disk drive 820 can be connected to the system bus 808 by a HDDinterface 824, an FDD interface 826 and an optical drive interface 828,respectively. The HDD interface 824 for external drive implementationscan include at least one or both of Universal Serial Bus (USB) and IEEE1384 interface technologies.

The drives and associated computer-readable media provide volatileand/or nonvolatile storage of data, data structures, computer-executableinstructions, and so forth. For example, a number of program modules canbe stored in the drives and memory units 810, 812, including anoperating system 830, one or more application programs 832, otherprogram modules 834, and program data 836. In one embodiment, the one ormore application programs 832, other program modules 834, and programdata 836 can include, for example, the various applications and/orcomponents of apparatus 85, 205, and/or 305.

A user can enter commands and information into the computer 802 throughone or more wire/wireless input devices, for example, a keyboard 838 anda pointing device, such as a mouse 840. Other input devices may includemicrophones, infra-red (IR) remote controls, radio-frequency (RF) remotecontrols, game pads, stylus pens, card readers, dongles, finger printreaders, gloves, graphics tablets, joysticks, keyboards, retina readers,touch screens (e.g., capacitive, resistive, etc.), trackballs,trackpads, sensors, styluses, and the like. These and other inputdevices are often connected to the processing unit 804 through an inputdevice interface 842 that is coupled to the system bus 808, but can beconnected by other interfaces such as a parallel port, IEEE 1384 serialport, a game port, a USB port, an IR interface, and so forth.

A monitor 844 or other type of display device is also connected to thesystem bus 808 via an interface, such as a video adaptor 846. Themonitor 844 may be internal or external to the computer 802. In additionto the monitor 844, a computer typically includes other peripheraloutput devices, such as speakers, printers, and so forth.

The computer 802 may operate in a networked environment using logicalconnections via wire and/or wireless communications to one or moreremote computers, such as a remote computer 848. The remote computer 848can be a workstation, a server computer, a router, a personal computer,portable computer, microprocessor-based entertainment appliance, a peerdevice or other common network node, and typically includes many or allof the elements described relative to the computer 802, although, forpurposes of brevity, only a memory/storage device 850 is illustrated.The logical connections depicted include wire/wireless connectivity to alocal area network (LAN) 852 and/or larger networks, for example, a widearea network (WAN) 854. Such LAN and WAN networking environments arecommonplace in offices and companies, and facilitate enterprise-widecomputer networks, such as intranets, all of which may connect to aglobal communications network, for example, the Internet.

When used in a LAN networking environment, the computer 802 is connectedto the LAN 852 through a wire and/or wireless communication networkinterface or adaptor 856. The adaptor 856 can facilitate wire and/orwireless communications to the LAN 852, which may also include awireless access point disposed thereon for communicating with thewireless functionality of the adaptor 856.

When used in a WAN networking environment, the computer 802 can includea modem 858, or is connected to a communications server on the WAN 854,or has other means for establishing communications over the WAN 854,such as by way of the Internet. The modem 858, which can be internal orexternal and a wire and/or wireless device, connects to the system bus808 via the input device interface 842. In a networked environment,program modules depicted relative to the computer 802, or portionsthereof, can be stored in the remote memory/storage device 850. It willbe appreciated that the network connections shown are exemplary andother means of establishing a communications link between the computerscan be used.

The computer 802 is operable to communicate with wire and wirelessdevices or entities using the IEEE 802 family of standards, such aswireless devices operatively disposed in wireless communication (e.g.,IEEE 802.16 over-the-air modulation techniques). This includes at leastWi-Fi (or Wireless Fidelity), WiMax, and Bluetooth™ wirelesstechnologies, among others. Thus, the communication can be a predefinedstructure as with a conventional network or simply an ad hoccommunication between at least two devices. Wi-Fi networks use radiotechnologies called IEEE 802.11x (a, b, g, n, etc.) to provide secure,reliable, fast wireless connectivity. A Wi-Fi network can be used toconnect computers to each other, to the Internet, and to wire networks(which use IEEE 802.3-related media and functions).

One or more aspects of at least one embodiment may be implemented byrepresentative instructions stored on a machine-readable medium whichrepresents various logic within the processor, which when read by amachine causes the machine to fabricate logic to perform the techniquesdescribed herein. Such representations, known as “IP cores” may bestored on a tangible, machine readable medium and supplied to variouscustomers or manufacturing facilities to load into the fabricationmachines that actually make the logic or processor. Some embodiments maybe implemented, for example, using a machine-readable medium or articlewhich may store an instruction or a set of instructions that, ifexecuted by a machine, may cause the machine to perform a method and/oroperations in accordance with the embodiments. Such a machine mayinclude, for example, any suitable processing platform, computingplatform, computing device, processing device, computing system,processing system, computer, processor, or the like, and may beimplemented using any suitable combination of hardware and/or software.The machine-readable medium or article may include, for example, anysuitable type of memory unit, memory device, memory article, memorymedium, storage device, storage article, storage medium and/or storageunit, for example, memory, removable or non-removable media, erasable ornon-erasable media, writeable or re-writeable media, digital or analogmedia, hard disk, floppy disk, Compact Disk Read Only Memory (CD-ROM),Compact Disk Recordable (CD-R), Compact Disk Rewriteable (CD-RW),optical disk, magnetic media, magneto-optical media, removable memorycards or disks, various types of Digital Versatile Disk (DVD), a tape, acassette, or the like. The instructions may include any suitable type ofcode, such as source code, compiled code, interpreted code, executablecode, static code, dynamic code, encrypted code, and the like,implemented using any suitable high-level, low-level, object-oriented,visual, compiled and/or interpreted programming language.

The following include non-limiting example embodiments:

Example 1 is an apparatus, comprising an image capture unit operative tocapture images from incident light incident on at least a portion of theimage capture unit, a privacy assembly operative to prevent the imagecapture unit from generating a clear image responsive to a privacyactive signal, and logic coupled to the privacy assembly, the logic togenerate the privacy active signal responsive to the image capture unitbeing inactive.

Example 2 is the apparatus of Example 1, the privacy assembly operativeto prevent the image capture unit from generating a clear image byblocking the incident light from reaching a lens assembly of imagecapture unit.

Example 3 is the apparatus of Example 1, the privacy assembly operativeto prevent the image capture unit from generating a clear image byemitting a blinding light operative to interfere with the incident lightthat reaches a lens assembly of the image capture unit.

Example 4 is the apparatus of Example 1, the privacy assembly operativeto present a privacy indicator indicating that the privacy assembly isactive.

Example 5 is the apparatus of Example 1, the privacy assembly comprisinga blinding layer operative to emit a blinding light.

Example 6 is the apparatus of Example 1, the privacy assembly comprisinga blinding layer operative to emit a blinding light, the blinding layercomprising at least one of liquid crystals or light emitting diodes.

Example 7 is the apparatus of Example 1, the privacy assembly comprisinga blinding layer operative to emit a blinding light and a transparencylayer operative to reduce an intensity of the blinding light in adirection away from the image capture unit.

Example 8 is the apparatus of Example 1, the privacy assembly comprisinga blinding layer operative to emit a blinding light and an informationlayer operative to present a privacy indicator using the blinding light.

Example 9 is the apparatus of Example 1, the privacy assembly comprisinga blinding layer operative to emit a blinding light and an informationlayer operative to present a privacy indicator using the blinding light,the privacy indicator comprising at least one of a light or a symbol.

Example 10 is the apparatus of Example 1, the privacy assemblycomprising an information layer comprising at least one of a liquidcrystal material, a light emitting diode (LED) material, athin-film-transistors (TFT) material, and in-plane switching (IPS)material.

Example 11 is the apparatus of Example 1, the privacy assemblycomprising an information layer, a blinding layer, and a transparencylayer.

Example 12 is the apparatus of Example 1, the privacy layer comprising ablinding layer comprising at least one of light emitting diodes (LEDs),organic LEDs (OLEDs), a liquid crystal display (LCD), or apolymer-dispersed LCD (PDLC).

Example 13 is the apparatus of Example 1, the logic to reset the privacyactive signal to deactivate the privacy assembly responsive to the imagecapture unit capturing an image.

Example 14 is a system, comprising the apparatus according to any ofclaims 1-13, and at least one network interface.

Example 15 is a method of manufacturing an image capture apparatus,comprising providing an image capture unit operative to capture imagesfrom incident light incident on at least a portion of the image captureunit, providing a privacy assembly operative to prevent the imagecapture unit from generating a clear image responsive to a privacyactive signal, and providing logic coupled to the privacy assembly, thelogic to generate the privacy active signal responsive to the imagecapture unit being inactive.

Example 16 is the method of Example 15, configuring the privacy assemblyto prevent the image capture unit from generating a clear image byblocking the incident light from reaching a lens assembly of imagecapture unit.

Example 17 is the method of Example 15, configuring the privacy assemblyto prevent the image capture unit from generating a clear image byemitting a blinding light operative to interfere with the incident lightthat reaches a lens assembly of the image capture unit.

Example 18 is the method of Example 15, configuring the privacy assemblyto present a privacy indicator indicating that the privacy assembly isactive.

Example 19 is the method of Example 15, the privacy assembly comprisinga blinding layer operative to emit a blinding light.

Example 20 is the method of Example 15, the privacy assembly comprisinga blinding layer operative to emit a blinding light, the blinding layercomprising at least one of liquid crystals or light emitting diodes.

Example 21 is the method of Example 15, the privacy assembly comprisinga blinding layer operative to emit a blinding light and a transparencylayer operative to reduce an intensity of the blinding light in adirection away from the image capture unit.

Example 22 is the method of Example 15, the privacy assembly comprisinga blinding layer operative to emit a blinding light and an informationlayer operative to present a privacy indicator using the blinding light.

Example 23 is the method of Example 15, the privacy assembly comprisinga blinding layer operative to emit a blinding light and an informationlayer operative to present a privacy indicator using the blinding light,the privacy indicator comprising at least one of a light or a symbol.

Example 24 is the method of Example 15, the privacy layer comprising aninformation layer comprising at least one of a liquid crystal material,a light emitting diode (LED) material, a thin-film-transistors (TFT)material, and in-plane switching (IPS) material.

Example 25 is the method of Example 15, the privacy assembly comprisingan information layer, a blinding layer, and a transparency layer.

Example 26 is the method of Example 15, the privacy layer comprising ablinding layer comprising at least one of light emitting diodes (LEDs),organic LEDs (OLEDs), a liquid crystal display (LCD), or apolymer-dispersed LCD (PDLC).

Example 27 is the method of Example 15, comprising configuring the logicto reset the privacy active signal to deactivate the privacy assemblyresponsive to the image capture unit capturing an image.

Example 28 is a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium thatstores computer-executable instructions for execution by processingcircuitry of a computing device, the computer-executable instructions,when executed, to cause the computing device to capture images fromincident light incident on at least a portion of an image capture unitof the computing device, prevent the image capture unit from generatinga clear image via a privacy assembly responsive to a privacy activesignal, and generate the privacy active signal responsive to the imagecapture unit being inactive.

Example 29 is the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium ofExample 28, the computer-executable instructions, when executed, tocause the computing device to operate the privacy assembly to preventthe image capture unit from generating a clear image by blocking theincident light from reaching a lens assembly of image capture unit.

Example 30 is the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium ofExample 28, the computer-executable instructions, when executed, tocause the computing device to operate the privacy assembly to preventthe image capture unit from generating a clear image by emitting ablinding light operative to interfere with the incident light thatreaches a lens assembly of the image capture unit.

Example 31 is the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium ofExample 28, the computer-executable instructions, when executed, tocause the computing device to operate the privacy assembly to present aprivacy indicator indicating that the privacy assembly is active.

Example 32 is the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium ofExample 28, the privacy assembly comprising a blinding layer operativeto emit a blinding light.

Example 33 is the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium ofExample 28, the privacy assembly comprising a blinding layer operativeto emit a blinding light, the blinding layer comprising at least one ofliquid crystals or light emitting diodes.

Example 34 is the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium ofExample 28, the privacy assembly comprising a blinding layer operativeto emit a blinding light and a transparency layer operative to reduce anintensity of the blinding light in a direction away from the imagecapture unit.

Example 35 is the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium ofExample 28, the privacy assembly comprising a blinding layer operativeto emit a blinding light and an information layer operative to present aprivacy indicator using the blinding light.

Example 36 is the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium ofExample 28, the privacy assembly comprising a blinding layer operativeto emit a blinding light and an information layer operative to present aprivacy indicator using the blinding light, the privacy indicatorcomprising at least one of a light or a symbol.

Example 37 is the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium ofExample 28, the privacy assembly comprising an information layercomprising at least one of a liquid crystal material, a light emittingdiode (LED) material, a thin-film-transistors (TFT) material, andin-plane switching (IPS) material.

Example 38 is the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium ofExample 28, the privacy assembly comprising an information layer, ablinding layer, and a transparency layer.

Example 39 is the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium ofExample 28, the privacy layer comprising a blinding layer comprising atleast one of light emitting diodes (LEDs), organic LEDs (OLEDs), aliquid crystal display (LCD), or a polymer-dispersed LCD (PDLC).

Example 40 is the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium ofExample 28, the computer-executable instructions, when executed, tocause the computing device to reset the privacy active signal todeactivate the privacy assembly responsive to the image capture unitcapturing an image.

Example 41 is an apparatus, comprising an image capture means operativeto capture images from incident light incident on at least a portion ofthe image capture unit, a privacy means operative to prevent the imagecapture unit from generating a clear image responsive to a privacyactive signal, and privacy controller means coupled to the privacyassembly, the privacy controller means to generate the privacy activesignal responsive to the image capture unit being inactive.

Example 42 is the apparatus of Example 1, the privacy means operative toprevent the image capture unit from generating a clear image by blockingthe incident light from reaching a lens assembly of image capture unit.

Example 43 is the apparatus of Example 1, the privacy means operative toprevent the image capture unit from generating a clear image by emittinga blinding light operative to interfere with the incident light thatreaches a lens assembly of the image capture unit.

Example 44 is the apparatus of Example 1, the privacy means operative topresent a privacy indicator indicating that the privacy assembly isactive.

Example 45 is the apparatus of Example 1, the privacy means comprising ablinding layer operative to emit a blinding light.

Example 46 is the apparatus of Example 1, the privacy means comprising ablinding layer operative to emit a blinding light, the blinding layercomprising at least one of liquid crystals or light emitting diodes.

Example 47 is the apparatus of Example 1, the privacy means comprising ablinding layer operative to emit a blinding light and a transparencylayer operative to reduce an intensity of the blinding light in adirection away from the image capture unit.

Example 48 is the apparatus of Example 1, the privacy means comprising ablinding layer operative to emit a blinding light and an informationlayer operative to present a privacy indicator using the blinding light.

Example 49 is the apparatus of Example 1, the privacy means comprising ablinding layer operative to emit a blinding light and an informationlayer operative to present a privacy indicator using the blinding light,the privacy indicator comprising at least one of a light or a symbol.

Example 50 is the apparatus of Example 1, the privacy means comprisingan information layer comprising at least one of a liquid crystalmaterial, a light emitting diode (LED) material, a thin-film-transistors(TFT) material, and in-plane switching (IPS) material.

Example 51 is the apparatus of Example 1, the privacy means comprisingan information layer, a blinding layer, and a transparency layer.

Example 52 is the apparatus of Example 1, the privacy means comprising ablinding layer comprising at least one of light emitting diodes (LEDs),organic LEDs (OLEDs), a liquid crystal display (LCD), or apolymer-dispersed LCD (PDLC).

Example 53 is the apparatus of Example 1, the privacy controller meansto reset the privacy active signal to deactivate the privacy assemblyresponsive to the image capture unit capturing an image.

Example 54 is a system, comprising the apparatus according to any ofclaims 41-53, and at least one network interface.

It should be noted that the methods described herein do not have to beexecuted in the order described, or in any particular order. Moreover,various activities described with respect to the methods identifiedherein can be executed in serial or parallel fashion.

Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and describedherein, it should be appreciated that any arrangement calculated toachieve the same purpose may be substituted for the specific embodimentsshown. This disclosure is intended to cover any and all adaptations orvariations of various embodiments. It is to be understood that the abovedescription has been made in an illustrative fashion, and not arestrictive one. Combinations of the above embodiments, and otherembodiments not specifically described herein will be apparent to thoseof skill in the art upon reviewing the above description. Thus, thescope of various embodiments includes any other applications in whichthe above compositions, structures, and methods are used.

It is emphasized that the Abstract of the Disclosure is provided tocomply with 37 C.F.R. § 1.72(b), requiring an abstract that will allowthe reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure.It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used tointerpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. In addition, inthe foregoing Detailed Description, it can be seen that various featuresare grouped together in a single embodiment for the purpose ofstreamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to beinterpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed embodimentsrequire more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather,as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in lessthan all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus the followingclaims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with eachclaim standing on its own as a separate preferred embodiment. In theappended claims, the terms “including” and “in which” are used as theplain-English equivalents of the respective terms “comprising” and“wherein,” respectively. Moreover, the terms “first,” “second,” and“third,” etc. are used merely as labels, and are not intended to imposenumerical requirements on their objects.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific tostructural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understoodthat the subject matter defined in the appended claims is notnecessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above.Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed asexample forms of implementing the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus, comprising: an image capture unitoperative to capture images from incident light incident on at least aportion of the image capture unit; a privacy assembly operative toprevent the image capture unit from generating a clear image responsiveto a privacy active signal; and logic coupled to the privacy assembly,the logic to generate the privacy active signal responsive to the imagecapture unit being inactive.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, the privacyassembly operative to prevent the image capture unit from generating aclear image by blocking the incident light from reaching a lens assemblyof image capture unit.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, the privacy assemblyoperative to prevent the image capture unit from generating a clearimage by emitting a blinding light operative to interfere with theincident light that reaches a lens assembly of the image capture unit.4. The apparatus of claim 1, the privacy assembly operative to present aprivacy indicator indicating that the privacy assembly is active.
 5. Theapparatus of claim 1, the privacy assembly comprising a blinding layeroperative to emit a blinding light.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, theprivacy assembly comprising a blinding layer operative to emit ablinding light, the blinding layer comprising at least one of liquidcrystals or light emitting diodes.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, theprivacy assembly comprising a blinding layer operative to emit ablinding light and a transparency layer operative to reduce an intensityof the blinding light in a direction away from the image capture unit.8. The apparatus of claim 1, the privacy assembly comprising a blindinglayer operative to emit a blinding light and an information layeroperative to present a privacy indicator using the blinding light. 9.The apparatus of claim 1, the privacy assembly comprising a blindinglayer operative to emit a blinding light and an information layeroperative to present a privacy indicator using the blinding light, theprivacy indicator comprising at least one of a light or a symbol. 10.The apparatus of claim 1, the privacy assembly comprising an informationlayer comprising at least one of a liquid crystal material, a lightemitting diode (LED) material, a thin-film-transistors (TFT) material,and in-plane switching (IPS) material.
 11. A method of manufacturing animage capture apparatus, comprising: providing an image capture unitoperative to capture images from incident light incident on at least aportion of the image capture unit; providing a privacy assemblyoperative to prevent the image capture unit from generating a clearimage responsive to a privacy active signal; and providing logic coupledto the privacy assembly, the logic to generate the privacy active signalresponsive to the image capture unit being inactive.
 12. The method ofclaim 15, configuring the privacy assembly to prevent the image captureunit from generating a clear image by blocking the incident light fromreaching a lens assembly of image capture unit.
 13. The method of claim15, configuring the privacy assembly to prevent the image capture unitfrom generating a clear image by emitting a blinding light operative tointerfere with the incident light that reaches a lens assembly of theimage capture unit.
 14. The method of claim 15, configuring the privacyassembly to present a privacy indicator indicating that the privacyassembly is active.
 15. The method of claim 15, the privacy assemblycomprising a blinding layer operative to emit a blinding light.
 16. Themethod of claim 15, the privacy assembly comprising a blinding layeroperative to emit a blinding light, the blinding layer comprising atleast one of liquid crystals or light emitting diodes.
 17. The method ofclaim 15, the privacy assembly comprising a blinding layer operative toemit a blinding light and a transparency layer operative to reduce anintensity of the blinding light in a direction away from the imagecapture unit.
 18. The method of claim 15, the privacy assemblycomprising a blinding layer operative to emit a blinding light and aninformation layer operative to present a privacy indicator using theblinding light.
 19. The method of claim 15, the privacy assemblycomprising an information layer operative to present a privacy indicatorthe privacy indicator comprising at least one of a light or a symbol.20. The method of claim 15, the privacy assembly comprising aninformation layer comprising at least one of a liquid crystal material,a light emitting diode (LED) material, a thin-film-transistors (TFT)material, and in-plane switching (IPS) material.
 21. A non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium that stores computer-executableinstructions for execution by processing circuitry of a computingdevice, the computer-executable instructions, when executed, to causethe computing device to: capture images from incident light incident onat least a portion of an image capture unit of the computing device;prevent the image capture unit from generating a clear image via aprivacy assembly responsive to a privacy active signal; and generate theprivacy active signal responsive to the image capture unit beinginactive.
 22. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium ofclaim 21, the computer-executable instructions, when executed, to causethe computing device to cause the privacy assembly operative to preventthe image capture unit from generating a clear image by blocking theincident light from reaching a lens assembly of image capture unit. 23.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 21, thecomputer-executable instructions, when executed, to cause the computingdevice to cause the privacy assembly operative to prevent the imagecapture unit from generating a clear image by emitting a blinding lightoperative to interfere with the incident light that reaches a lensassembly of the image capture unit.
 24. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 21, the computer-executableinstructions, when executed, to cause the computing device to cause theprivacy assembly operative to present a privacy indicator indicatingthat the privacy assembly is active.
 25. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 21, the privacy assemblycomprising a blinding layer operative to emit a blinding light.